Crackle medium is a fun way to age your furniture, cabinets, a frame, even a painting!  It’s really easy to use…unless it isn’t.    A newsletter subscriber wrote in recently and was having some problems.  Here’s what he said:

Could you please advise how long you need to leave the crackle glaze on before painting on the top coat? Mine isn’t crackling right. I’m using latex paint – is that right?
Thank You

Hmmmm…now I’ve crackled a LOT of stuff and never had a problem -  BUT I have friends that have.  Of course when I do my crackle painting I’m not looking for perfection.  So if it “messes up” that just adds to my “look”. 

I have also known some people that have gotten “bad” crackle medium.  That’s no fun at all!!  The last time I bought crackle medium it was just for a small project so I got it at a craft store.  For those bigger projects (your bathroom cupboards?) you might want to get it in a LARGE container rather than those little bottles.

As for using latex…yeah… shouldn’t have any problem if you are using latex paint and follow the directions on the crackle medium you are using.   Generally speaking you want it to dry 30 to 60 minutes.  You may need a bit more drying time depending on the weather.

When the Crackle Medium is dry there should be an overall sheen to the surface. If any areas appear dull, apply another coat of Crackle Medium.  Now you apply the top coat.  This is the coat that will be actually crackling – revealing the “under coat”.

You need to load your brush – not OVER loaded but don’t wipe it all off either.  Load it generously and work in small areas.  The big thing is don’t over paint.  Too much paint or going over and over it will make you cracks disappear. Simply brush on a nice even coat and move on to the next area.  Then…let it dry 24 hours.

After crackling I sometimes will apply a stain to age what I’m working on.  Unless I’m painting in colors.  Like a red undercoat with a black overcoat. 

Hope this helps!

This article is only for those who are ready to learn how to faux paint exposed brick wall finish.

I know this can get really boring if your not looking for information about painting a faux exposed brick faux finish.  Sorry… But some are asking for more information and for those people…YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!

Check out this page ONLY if you are interested in seeing another site with faux brick breakouts and faux plaster walls.  Even a faux brick arch is pictured as well as some other great murals!!

Janet Checker, Murals at the Twisted Taco Cafe

If you have read this far…you must be interested in learning to paint faux exposed bricks and breakout plaster wall finishes.  One of the best ideas I have for you is to click on this link and save all the articles and pictures.

A file like this will help you get through those times when you are questioning your ability to paint realistic looking faux bricks.  A slew of photos and tidbits of information can often get you over the hump and on to painting those bricks fast!

Here are some excerpts from the Brick Video Debra made.  The first one shows a bit about grout and the color she demonstrates.  The second one is about adding some dimension to your brick or “aging” it so it looks older and not “new”.

<

Image via Wikipedia

Is Gilding back?  It sure seems to be…and in a BIG way! Who knew?

Gilding has been used as a form of decoration for thousands of years.  What’s even more amazing is that it really hasn’t changed in it’s method all that much, either.  Some types of gilding take much more skill and practice but other types are fairly easy.

The term “gilding” doesn’t just mean “adding gold” but it means the application of any/all metal leaves and powders.  From silver and platinum to bronze, aluminum and gold.  Or even “faux gold”! 

The ancient process of gilding was probably one of the earliest faux finishes!  Well, that and murals (think cave painting)! 

So…do you want to gild your walls?  We’ve seen this in a couple of houses and it looks pretty amazing.  It isn’t HARD but you do need to take your time and be careful.  Plan it out…do a small test run first and, as always, the most important part is the PREP work!!

First you want to CLEAN the wall.  And this time I mean scrub it clean.  We prefer using TSP cleaner to do this.  And remember not to dump the TSP on plants when you are done.  That won’t do them any good at all. 

And don’t forget to fill in holes and sand down any lumps or bumps or ridges you find.  If you don’t they’ll show up under your “leaf”.  Some are good and add interest but others…  well, they can be bad or create an “eye sore” you don’t want.

You’ll want to prime/seal your walls before you start.  It gives your leaf a clean surface to attach to.  Tape off everything you don’t want gilded or painted and then prime the walls with two coats of a water-based primer sealer.  Just to be safe give each coat a breather in-between coats.  Say 3 or 4 hours to “cure” a bit.

Now for the gilding!!! Yay!!!  Time to apply gold leaf adhesive (water based) to your wall.  Use a short nap roller for this part not a brush and not a long nap roller.  Short nap.

You’re going to do this step by step.  Don’t roll the adhesive all over the wall.  Just make one vertical roll (start at the corner) down the wall and then press a long sheet of gold leaf into the adhesive.  I like it better when I use smaller “chips” or strips rather than a big long one.  But it’s a personal choice so you do what you want.  You may want to ? test this out on a foam core poster board and see how you like it before getting started on the wall. 

Okay…so one roll of the adhesive, press on the gold leaf and then repeat.  Roll, press, repeat.  Until you finish the wall.  Then go back to the beginning and peel off that top layer of paper that is covering the gold leaf.  Be careful and go slow when you peel it back and rub a brush (soft paint brush…like a mop brush or even a sponge brush but be gentle so you don’t tear the gold leaf).  Anyway…rub it gently to smooth out any wrinkles and to help really press the gold leaf in to the adhesive/wall.  When you’re done you want to let it alone to dry at least over night.

Some of your gold leaf sheets will hang over the baseboard or chair rail or turn the corner.  Just trim them up now with a straight edge razor like a box knife.  But do it carefully!  You don’t want to tear it or cut in to your wall or trim or window frames. It isn’t a race so just go slowly. 

Seal the deal! You know we love MinWax Polycrylic.  Remember not to SHAKE it up as that just adds bubbles you do NOT want in there.  Stir it up… gently.  Pour some in a paint pan and take a new/clean short nap roller and paint a thin coat over your gold leaf.  As you go along rolling it on take a small nylon trim brush…say a 2 or 3 inch brush.. and soften it up with some cross-hatching motions.

You can do this with silver leaf, too, but realize that silver leaf WILL TARNISH!  Just like a silver tea pot or silver serving utensils or silver candlesticks…it’ll tarnish and look “black” or dirty eventually.  Greyed.  So..just be aware of that.    You can seal the silver leaf, too, but if there is the slightest break in the “top coat”…say a scrape or rubbed off area then you’ll get the tarnishing in that area.

We saw silver leafed walls in a home (on a decorating tour once time) and while it was amazing to look at…it just bugged me that it was “dirty” looking.  It was cool…but…not my thing.

Try gilding a picture frame before you hit the wall.  It does take a little finessing so you don’t tear it.  Gold leaf isn’t cheap, so doing a whole wall can be a bit much but it’s very elegant.  Talk about making a statement!  Wowzer!!!  But…maybe you’ll decide just to gild a stripe on the wall and put molding up above and below it.  That would make a cool accent!

Faux Granite?  Heck yeah!! Several newsletter subscribers have been writing in to find out about this painting technique.  It’s a pretty good one to do on all sorts of surfaces. Really anything!  And, yes, you can learn to paint faux granite… It’s easy – peasy!

Once you are comfortable with the technique of painting faux granite… you can use it to paint all sorts of things like counter tops, mantels, walls, decor items and even your floors!  You won’t learn how to do all those things here and now, but just the most simplest/basic faux granite painting technique. So Let’s Get Started!

First let’s get some supplies…. (Debra and I say the word “supplies” as if we were yelling “Surprise!” at a surprise birthday party.  So imagine walking down the aisles at a big box store and hearing two giggling gals in the next aisle talking about needing to stock up on supplies … Debra would say,”…okay, we need to stock up on our paint brush supply…” and before you know it I’m yelling “Suh-PLIES!”   But I digress from the subject at hand.  Supplies…)

Okay…so we’re assuming you have regular painting supplies…

• • drop cloth (we like the good “cloth” ones better than the “plastic” ones – I slip on the plastic)
  • tape
  • rags
  • paint containers (like plastic toss away cups and plates) etc.
  • paint tray and roller (for floors or counters)
  • paint brush if you are faux painting small objects

• Sea Sponge (at least 2) – You need to look for one with lots of open holes… and don’t get synthetic. Get a natural sponge…the softer the better. Some sponges have tiny holes and are hard as a rock when dry, you don’t want those. Look for large open holes and a softish resilience like the palm of your hand. The sponge must be damp not sopping wet before you start to paint.

• Large flat container- a “tupper” like container works great because you can seal it overnight…but you won’t be able to use it for food again.  You can use a paint tray or anything else you don’t mind keeping for paint.  Debra’s used an old square baking pan and I’ve used a big plastic container that looked like it was for storing a whole pizza in.  BIG, plastic and round…with a lid! 

• Water based glazing liquid.

• Water based sealer in high- gloss sheen.

• Three colors of paint. If you’re doing a small area…get the 2 oz. acrylic paint bottles from a craft store.  If you’re going to tackle a counter or floor then get your semi-gloss latex paint in pint or gallon containers.
  • Paint color choices are by personal choice, here are some suggestions:
    • Base Coat- Cream Granite colors Brown, Black and White (mix gray)
    • Base Coat – Gold / Green Granite colors Rust, Black and White
    • Base Coat – Brown Granite colors Black and White (and mix gray)
    • Base Coat – Black Granite colors White ( mix 2 tones of gray)

1. Roll or brush your base coat paint on and let dry.
2. Pour your 3 colors into one tray – puddles that will run together and just touch. They do get mixed together when you start using the sea sponge, but that’s okay.
3. Debra’s personal choice is to NOT mix the paint and glaze together before sponging on. (Personal choice)
   1. She likes to spread a little clear glaze onto the first area and with her slightly damp sea sponge pick up one – two – or three colors at a time. If you’re new to this try it one color at a time, as it can get muddy.
   2. I like to pre-mix my colors with glaze and use my slightly damp sea sponge to pick up colors individual or combined and gently tap them on the surface.  Pre-Mix or not is up to you.
4. You are going to be pouncing the sponge onto the surface lightly. I mean with a baby soft light touch. Don’t drag the sponge.  That just smears the colors. You are creating little dots of color…every one an irregular shaped dot. Turn your wrist as you go so you don’t create a pattern by accident.  This way, then that way.
5. Traditionally faux granite is painted one color at a time so all the colors don’t blend, and they layer on top of each other. Debra and I get a little impatient and like some of the dots to blend and make variations of color.  That’s why we sometimes pick up more than one color at a time on our sponge.  Gently applying two colors gives you both those colors and sometimes a new color color when they blend together.  BUT – Until you’re comfortable doing this and have it tested out you might want to stick to the one color at a time.  You can do some test runs on foam core boards to see how you do applying all the colors at once if you want to.  The key is step 4…soft touches…not heavy handed whacks!
6. That’s it… after the surface is covered with faux granite and dry…Seal with a few coats.

If you want some extra guidance you might want to check out Debra’s video.  She made this great video showing everyone how to paint faux granite in simple to follow steps.

Giani Granite Paint Kit

Another great thing you might want to check out is this kit for painting countertops.  If you combine the information in Debra’s video with this kit…well, I think you’d be unstoppable!    The kit takes the guess work out of what colors you need to get a specific granite look.  It comes in “green” or “red” or “sand” or…well, you get the idea.  It comes in a LOT of colors…probably one of them is one you want. 

So, check it out.  1st test out your granite painting skills on some foam core board and then…get to work on your next GREAT project!

Art on MoMA´s Floor in New York City - Image by nahkahousu via Flickr

So in the last two months I’ve had several people write in that they were painting their floors.  GREAT IDEA! Painting is easy to do and inexpensive.

You could paint your floors to look like tile, or marble (check out Debra’s faux marble/granite video if you go that route) or even WOOD!  Yeah…how about painting your concrete floor to look like wood?!  Again…you might want to check out Debra’s video on faux wood if you do that one.  And yes…those are shameless plugs for Debra’s videos because they are so awesome!  Lol! 

Anyhoo…Do you want to cover up your ugly floor?   But not with an expensive rug?  Wouldn’t you love to paint a finish on your bathroom or kitchen floor that would liven up the space?   But… you worry  it will wear off or be damaged by water?  Well, you aren’t alone.

This question was recently asked by a reader:

Hello, to start I want to say I love your site.  Now the question. I am doing a faux tile finish on a bathroom floor. Can you tell me what I put on top to keep the paints from being worn down or damaged by water. Thank you, Sheree

You know that we try to avoid recommending an exotic product.  We avoid difficult products that are “painful” to use and deal with.  So..as usually….we have an easy answer for you.  Yay!!!

First make sure you read the articles on painting floors.  Do your prep work, paint it and then allow the surface to dry completely.  I mean super, dooper dry!   Then seal with 3 coats of water based urethane clear sealer
in “gloss” finish.   Follow manufacturer’s directions when using all products.

Basic sealers from the “Big Box Stores” will work.  You’ll find them in the paint aisle.  Oil-based sealers create a deeper shine than water-based sealers, but most develop a slight amber tint over time.  They’ve reformulated them so they aren’t supposed to but…  I wouldn’t bet the farm on it…just in case.  And the water-based sealers remain completely clear, but are slightly less durable than oil-based sealers.  It’s a quandry.

Another option is that you could use floor wax, but that WILL turn amber – very quickly – and they don’t provide the best protection.  Last time I painted a floor I used a water based urethane clear sealer and it worked GREAT.

I painted the concrete floor a base color (grey – for my faux tile “grout”), after prepping it, and then cut a piece of dense foam about 18″ x 18″, glued it to a larger piece of form core board and used it like a giant stamp.  I stamped faux tile leaving an inch wide “grout” space between them.

I used a couple of shades of “terra-cotta” so it looked more authentic. Then I went back in and added some highlights and shadows to the edges to give it depth.  It was PERFECT! And easy. 

Hope this helps.  Now get out there and SPLASH some paint around!!